Science Tackles Twitter Talents

Justin Bieber has nearly 39 million followers on Twitter—eight million more than the president. But for those of us who aren't as #blessed as Bieber, researchers have come up with a few tips to racking up more followers—based on an analysis of over 500 active tweeters and their half million tweets, over a 15-month period.

First, stop talking about yourself. Timely, informative tweets are 30 times more effective at snagging new followers than tweets about your pancakes. Sophisticated language also attracts followers, even within the short format.

Of course, one recent report claims that half of Bieber's followers are actually fakes, like spambots—and he gets most of his real followers simply for being famous. To increase your Twitter fan base, you have to actually be interesting.